Fans and scholars have long regarded the 1980s as a significant turning point in the history of comics in the United States, but most critical discussions of the period still focus on books from prominent creators such as Frank Miller, Alan Moore, and Art Spiegelman, eclipsing the work of others who also played a key role in shaping comics as we know them today. The Other 1980s offers a more complicated and multivalent picture of this robust era of ambitious comics publishing....

Action figures are more than toys or collectibles--they are statements on race, gender, class, body positivity and more. This collection of nine new essays and one interview argues that action figures should be analyzed in the same light as books, movies, television shows and other media. Through an examination of the plastic bodies that fill our shelves and toy boxes, "Action Figure Studies" can inform the next generation of toys.